Himalayan Paragliders Grounded for Games Security

Himachal Pradesh, the northern Indian state, is a domestic and international tourism destination, including for adventure sports. Above, people enjoy a snowfall in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, in February 2007.

The more than 50 paraglider pilots that have arrived in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh from around the world for the prime paragliding season are stuck on the ground as local police are worried they could be a security threat to the Commonwealth Games.

While the Bir Billing area, which attracts hundreds of paragliders every year with its steady thermals and great views, is 390 kilometers from New Delhi, the police are worried that it could be used as a launch pad for terrorist attacks on the games.

Worries about the potential threats from paragliders popped up after Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said an Islamic militant group had bought 150 of them to use for attacks.

“There are about 50 pilots here and due to be another 150 on the 10th but I can’t see them coming now,” said Stephen Purdie, a flying instructor from the Airworks Paragliding Center in the U.K. who is waiting in Himachal Pradesh for the chance to fly.

Mr. Purdie has sent a letter this week to as many government offices as he could find, pleading that they lift the flying ban or risk losing the travel dollars of paragliding enthusiasts. He said the local police have told him the ban will continue until the 20th even though the games will be over on the 14th and this is the best time for paragliding.

“The irony that it was a sporting event that caused this distress to a large number of sportsmen and women, who have saved all year both in terms of leave and money to come to India to fly, is not lost on us,” he said in the letter.

Paraglider pilots say even the best of them could not make it all the way to Delhi on their fabric wings. Even if one got close to Delhi, even the motorized paragliders, would have very little chance of getting through security at the Games, they said.

“They can’t carry much of a payload and they are so slow that they are not really a threat,” said Anil Madgavkar the Goa-based president of the Paragliding Association of India. “Unfortunately the powers that be don’t know what paragliding is so they react with a ban.”

Pilots in Bir Billing are hoping the government will ease the restriction soon or they will have to roll up their paragliders and head to friendlier skies.

“We’re mostly just sitting around reading books and drinking tea now,” said Mr. Purdie. “No one is watching the Commonwealth Games. It would be too heartbreaking.”

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